LA GRANDE, Ore. – The College of Idaho will have to wait until Sunday night to see if they will advance to their ninth-straight NAIA Championships, as the Lady Yotes string of four-straight Cascade Conference titles was snapped tonight by Eastern Oregon in the semifinal round at Quinn Coliseum.
 
The No. 7 ranked Mountaineers (27-2) avenged a loss to C of I last month with a 26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 25-16 win in the event, presented by U.S. Bank – ending a string of 10-straight CCC final appearances for the Coyotes.
 
Makayla Lindburg was the key for EOU, recording 16 kills and 18 digs – including four kills in an 11-3 run to close out the match, after the Yotes (20-10) had closed the Set 4 gap to 14-13.
 
The opening set was tight throughout, as the teams played to 11 ties before three Madisen Garlie kills and a pair of combo blocks fueled a 7-2 run to give Eastern a 23-19 lead. The Yotes countered, getting a Jackie van Vliet-Katy Robinson combo block and three Mountie hitting errors to tie the score.  After three straight side-outs, Amanda Miller closed the set for the hosts with a rousing kill.
 
The Yotes had control of Set 2 early, sprinting to a 9-3 lead – only to see Eastern get four Lindburg kills in a 12-4 run that gave the Mountaineers the set lead for good.
 
EOU looked to finish the match in the third set, leading 17-14 – but the Coyotes would not quit. Brenna Meehan pounded down three kills in a crucial 8-2 run that extended the match to a fourth set.
 
Meehan led C of I with 12 kills and 10 digs, with Randi Sturtz recording eight kills and van Vliet logging seven kills and a team-high three blocks.  Sydney Call recorded 20 assists and Cheyan Coburn had 25 digs in the losing effort.
 
Garlie had 11 kills and a match-high seven blocks for EOU, with Miller and Kasaundra Tuma both recording 11 kills.  Setter Rachelle Chamberlain led all players with 50 assists.